Stapler

ABSTRACT

A stapler capable of avoiding defective clinching and buckling of legs even if the stapler is of a vertically-separated type in which a driver unit and a clincher unit are separated vertically is disclosed. This stapler is provided with clincher members ( 133  and  134 ) for clinching legs of a staple driven out by a driver and holders ( 131  and  132 ) which hold the clincher members ( 133  and  134 ). Also, in this stapler, guide surfaces ( 131   b  and  132   b ) for guiding tips of the legs of the staple toward the clincher members ( 133  and  134 ) are formed on upper surface portions of the holders ( 131  and  132 ), and the holders ( 131  and  132 ) are movable in a direction perpendicular to a surface which includes a direction that the legs of the staple are clinched.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a stapler for binding a bundle ofsheets or the like, and more specifically, to a stapler comprising aclincher for clinching legs of a staple driven out by a driver and aholder for holding the clincher.

BACKGROUND ART

Heretofore, there has been known a stapler comprising a driver fordriving out a staple by reciprocal movements thereof and a clincher forclinching legs of the staple driven out by the driver.

Such stapler has, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a pair of clincher members3 and 4 which are attached rotatably between a pair of clincher holders1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 11, a pair of inwardly slanted guide surfaceportions 1 a and 2 a is formed on upper surface portions of the clincherholders 1 and 2, respectively. These guide surfaces 1 a and 2 a areadapted for guiding tips of the legs of the driven-out staple onto theclincher members 3 and 4. In more detail, these guide surfaces guide thetips of the legs of the staple such that the legs of the staple can beclinched even if the tips of the legs of the staple are deviated from aposition of the clincher members 3 and 4 when the staple is driven out.In other words, there is provided tolerance so as to carry out clinchingof the legs of the staple even when a center axis of the driver isdeviated from the position of the clincher members 3 and 4.

However, there has been a problem that if a deformation load is appliedon only one of the legs of the staple, it is buckled. Particularly,alignment of the driver is difficult in a separate type electric staplerin which a driver unit and a clincher unit are separated vertically fromeach other, so that the problem mentioned above is likely to occur.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the problem of theabove-described prior art, and therefore, an object of the presentinvention is to provide a stapler capable of avoiding defectiveclinching and buckling of legs even if the stapler is of avertically-separated type in which a driver unit and a clincher unit areseparated vertically.

To accomplish the above-mentioned object, a stapler according to thepresent invention comprises a clincher unit having a clincher forclinching legs of a staple driven out by a driver and a holder whichholds the clincher, the holder being formed with guide surfaces whichare slanted for guiding tips of the legs of the staple toward theclincher, characterized in that the holder is movable with respect tothe clincher unit.

In one embodiment, the stapler further comprises a driver unit havingthe driver, and the driver unit and the clincher unit are verticallyseparated from each other.

The clincher has a pair of clincher members disposed rotatable relativeto the holder and in such a manner that positions of their rotatingsurface are deviated from each other, and a partition plate is disposedbetween the clincher members.

The clincher unit has, in one embodiment, a clincher unit box of which aside opposing the driver is opened. The holder is disposed movable inthe clincher unit box. Biasing members are disposed between an one-sidewall of the holder and an one-side wall of the clincher unit boxopposing the one-side wall of the holder and between an another-wall ofthe holder and an another-wall of the clincher unit box opposing theanother-wall of the holder to bias the holder in directions pressingtoward each other.

In one embodiment, the biasing members are wave springs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing an entire structureof a stapler according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a clincher unit box in whicha holder is mounted.

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the clincher unit box in whichthe holder is mounted.

FIG. 4 is a plain view of the clincher unit box in which the holder ismounted.

FIG. 5 is a plain view of the holder attached with a clincher.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the holder attached with the clincher.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a partition plate.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a clincher member which is anotherexample.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a conventional clincher holder.

FIG. 10 is a plain view showing the conventional clincher holder.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing the conventional clincher holder.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a stapler according to the presentinvention will be described in detail on the basis of drawings.

In FIG. 1, a reference numeral 10 denotes an electric stapler which isof a vertically-separated type, and this stapler 10 comprises a driverunit 11 and a clincher unit 100 disposed below the driver unit 11. Thestapler 10 is attached to a copying machine or the like, for example.

The driver unit 11 has a magazine 40 fitted inside of a frame 20, acartridge 50 which is detachably attached in the magazine 40 and inwhich sheets of staples (not shown) are stacked and stored, and a driver70 pivotally mounted to an outer frame 12, and so on. The outer frame 12retains the driver unit 11 as being movable upwardly and downwardly, andat the same time, fixed to a frame of a body of a post-processing devicewhich is not shown, such as a copying machine. More specifically, thedriver unit 11 is vertically movably supported by the body frame by theouter frame 12.

In addition, it is configured that a clinch unit box 111 which will bedescribed later pushes the driver unit 11 up with respect to the outerframe 12, and thereby a tip of the driver 70 is adapted to protrudedownwardly from a driving out portion 21 to drive out a staple (notshown) from the driving out portion 21.

The clincher unit 100 includes the clincher unit box 111 providedupwardly and downwardly movable, an up-and-down mechanism 112 for movingthe clincher unit box 111 upwardly and downwardly, and a motor 113 fordriving the up-and-down mechanism 112, and so on. A reference numeral114 denotes a clincher arm for rotating clincher members 133 and 134,and this clincher arm 114 is configured to rotate around a shaft 115 asthe center. The rotation of the clincher arm 114 is carried out byrotation of a cam 116.

As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, the clincher unit box 111 is opened at itsupper part, and has side walls 111A and 111B provided at front and rear(right and left in FIG. 3) and side walls 111D and 111E provided atright and left. Between the side walls 111A and 111B and under theopening 111C, there are attached shafts 120 and 120 at positions whereseparated from each other at a predetermined distance. A table 117(omitted in FIG. 4) is attached to the opening 111C, and a center partof the table 117 is formed with an opening 117A.

Inside of the clincher unit box 111, there is mounted a holder 130 onthe shafts 120 and 120 and at a position facing the opening 117A of thetable 117, and the holder 130 is movable freely in an axial direction bysliding on the shafts 120 and 120. The holder 130 is adapted to becapable of being inclined with respect to a straight line R2 which willbe described later.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the holder 130 is structured by a pair ofholder members 131 and 132 opposing to each other, and the holder member131 and the holder member 132 are fixed mutually by a screw which is notshown. As shown in FIG. 3, pairs of guide surfaces 131 b and 132 b,which are slanted inwardly, are formed on upper surface portions 131Aand 132A of the holder members 131 and 132, respectively. The pairs ofguide surfaces 131 b and 132 b are adapted for guiding tips of legs ofthe staple inward.

Inner sides of the holder members 131 and 132 are formed with shaftportions 131B and 132B, respectively, and the clincher members 133 and134 are rotatably mounted to each of the shaft portions 131B and 132B,respectively. The clincher members 133 and 134 are rotated around theshaft portions 131B and 132B as their respective centers in directionsof arrows by elevation of the clincher arm 114 shown in FIG. 2, therebyclinching the legs of the staple (not shown) by the rotation. Inaddition, the two clincher members 133 and 134 structure a clincher.

A partition plate 135 shown in FIG. 7 is disposed between the clinchermember 133 and the clincher member 134, so that the clincher members 133and 134 may not interfere with each other when they are rotated.Thickness of the partition plate 135 is set to be thinner than that ofthe staple, and both ends of the partition plate 135 are provided withscrew holes 135A and 135A, respectively.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, a straight line R1 connecting a centerlocation P1 of a clinching surface 133A of the clincher member 133 asview in a thickness direction and a center location P2 of a clinchingsurface 134A of the clincher member 134 in a thickness direction, isslanted by approximately 6 degrees in relation to the straight line R2in a direction along which the clinching surfaces 133A and 134A of theclincher members 133 and 134 extend (left and right directions in FIG.4).

Wave springs 137 and 137, which are obtained by forming a plate springin a wave-like shape, are disposed inside of the clincher unit box 111between the walls 111A and 111B of the clincher unit box 111 and theholder 130, and the holder 130 is biased in directions of arrows by thewave springs 137 and 137 in such a manner as to press each other.

Next, operation of the stapler structured as described above will beexplained.

When a not shown bundle of sheets is discharged from the copying machine(not shown) and a signal for binding is outputted from the copyingmachine, the motor 113 of the up-and-down mechanism 112 of the clincherunit 100 is driven and the clincher unit box 111 is elevated. By theelevation of the clincher unit box 111, the bundle of sheets is heldbetween the driving out portion 21.

Further, when the clincher unit box 111 is elevated in the state thatthe bundle of sheets is sandwiched, the driver unit 11 is pushed up withrespect to the outer frame 12, and the driver 70 of the driver unit 11is lowered relative to the driver unit 11, thereby the staple (notshown) is driven out from the driving out portion 21.

As the legs of the driven-out staple penetrate the bundle of sheets,when a center axis of the driver deviates from the center locations P1and P2 of the clincher members, the legs S1 of the staple havingpenetrated the bundle of sheets are brought into contact with the guidesurfaces 131 b of the holder member 131, for example, as shown in FIG.3. Then, as the legs S1 are further pushed down by the driver 70, theholder 130 moves rightward (in FIG. 3) against the biasing force of thespring.

By the rightward movement of the holder 130, the positional deviationbetween the center axis of the driver and the center locations P1 and P2of the clincher members 133 and 134 is corrected. Thereafter, theclincher arm 114 is elevated, and the clincher members 133 and 134 arerotated in the directions of the arrows around the shaft portions 131Aand 132A as their respective centers to clinch the legs S1 of thestaple. At the time of the clinching, because the positional deviationbetween the center axis of the driver and the center locations P1 and P2of the clincher members 133 and 134 is corrected, the clinching can becarried out without failure, thus it is possible to avoid buckling ofthe legs S1 of the staple and defective clinching of the legs S1.

As described above, the holder 130 moves with respect to the clincherunit box 111. Because the positional deviation of the clincher members133 and 134 is assimilated by the movement of the holder 130, it ispossible to provide a correctly binded state constantly, withoutstrictly carrying out positioning at the time of assembling of theclincher members 133 and 134.

FIG. 8 shows a clincher member 150 of another embodiment. The clinchermember 150 is vertically movably held by a pair of holders 151, and theholders 151 are disposed movable in the clincher unit box 111 similarlyto the holder 130. The clincher member 150 is configured that theclincher member 150 is moved up by the elevation of the clincher arm114, thereby clinching the legs S1 of the staple.

As described in the foregoing, according to the present invention, it ispossible to avoid the defective clinching of the staple and the bucklingof the legs. In addition, because the positional deviation of theclincher members is assimilated by the movement of the holder, it ispossible to provide the correctly binded state constantly, withoutstrictly carrying out the positioning at the time of assembling of theclincher members.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

In the above-described embodiment, it has been described a case wherethe present invention is applied to the separate type stapler. However,it may be recommendable to apply the present invention to an electricstapler in an integral-type or to a hand-operated stapler.

1. A stapler, comprising: a clincher unit comprising a clincher forclinching legs of a staple driven out by a driver, a holder which holdsthe clincher, and at least one biasing member for biasing the holder inthe clincher unit, said holder being formed with guide surfaces whichare slanted for guiding tips of the legs of said staple toward theclincher, wherein said holder is mounted in the clincher unit so as tobe movable relative to the clincher unit in response to press contactbetween the guide surface and the leg of the staple against a biasingforce of said at least one biasing member when the leg is guided alongthe guide surface.
 2. The stapler according to claim 1, furthercomprising a driver unit comprising said driver, wherein the driver unitand said clincher unit are vertically separated from each other.
 3. Thestapler according to claim 2, wherein said clincher has a pair ofclincher members disposed rotatably relative to said holder, anddisposed so that positions of their rotating surfaces are deviated fromeach other, and a partition plate is disposed between the clinchermembers.
 4. The stapler according to claim 3, wherein said clincher unitcomprises a clincher unit box of which a side opposing the driver isopened, and said holder is disposed movably in the clincher unit box,and said at least one biasing member is disposed between the holder andthe clincher unit box.
 5. The stapler according to claim 4, wherein saidat least one biasing member comprises at least two biasing membersdisposed between a first wall of the holder and a first wall of theclincher unit box opposing said first wall of the holder, and between asecond wall of the holder and a second wall of the clincher unit boxopposing said second wall of the holder, to bias said holder indirections pressing toward each other.
 6. The stapler according to claim5, wherein said biasing members are wave springs.
 7. The stapleraccording to claim 2, wherein said clincher unit comprises a clincherunit box of which a side opposing the driver is opened, and said holderis disposed movably in the clincher unit box, and said at least onebiasing member is disposed between the holder and the clincher unit box.8. The stapler according to claim 7, wherein said at least one biasingmember comprises at least two biasing members disposed between a firstwall of the holder and a first wall of the clincher unit box opposingsaid first wall of the holder, and between a second wall of the holderand a second wall of the clincher unit box opposing said second wall ofthe holder, to bias said holder in directions pressing toward eachother.
 9. The stapler according to claim 8, wherein said biasing membersare wave springs.
 10. The stapler according to claim 1, wherein saidclincher has a pair of clincher members disposed rotatably relative tosaid holder, and disposed so that positions of their rotating surfacesare deviated from each other, and a partition plate is disposed betweenthe clincher members.
 11. The stapler according to claim 10, whereinsaid clincher unit comprises a clincher unit box of which a sideopposing the driver is opened, and said holder is disposed movably inthe clincher unit box, and said at least one biasing member is disposedbetween the holder and the clincher unit box.
 12. The stapler accordingto claim 11, wherein said at least one biasing member comprises at leasttwo biasing members disposed between a first wall of the holder and afirst wall of the clincher unit box opposing said first wall of theholder, and between a second wall of the holder and a second wall of theclincher unit box opposing said second wall of the holder, to bias saidholder in directions pressing toward each other.
 13. The stapleraccording to claim 12, wherein said biasing members are wave springs.14. The stapler according to claim 1, wherein said clincher unitcomprises a clincher unit box of which a side opposing the driver isopened, and said holder is disposed movably in the clincher unit box,and said at least one biasing member is disposed between the holder andthe clincher unit box.
 15. The stapler according to claim 14, whereinsaid at least one biasing member comprises at least two biasing membersdisposed between a first wall of the holder and a first wall of theclincher unit box opposing said first wall of the holder, and between asecond wall of the holder and a second wall of the clincher unit boxopposing said second wall of the holder, to bias said holder indirections pressing toward each other.
 16. The stapler according toclaim 2, wherein said clincher has a pair of clincher members disposedrotatably relative to said holder, and disposed so that positions oftheir rotating surfaces are deviated from each other, and a partitionplate is disposed between the clincher members.